Auburn Tigers football coach Gene Chizik served as the grand marshal at today's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, proving the event's second-most visible Auburn presence. This means he did the "Drivers, start your engines!" thing while talking up Cam Newton's NFL Draft prospects.
He was outdone, of course, by Michael Waltrip's No. 15 Toyota, done up with Auburn logos -- perhaps the first time an expensive vehicle decorated in Auburn colors has been driven around Alabama without having Trooper Taylor inside of it. Chizik on the vehicle, followed by video:
How awesome. I mean, we just unveiled the car, it's the first time I've seen it. The Auburn brand is out there big and bright for everybody to see. It's really, really a neat deal. I'm just honored that Michael Waltrip, with all of the history that family has in racing, that the Michael Waltrip racing team has taken this on and Michael himself is driving the car.
For more on Auburn, head to Track Em Tigers.